Claire is walking!

We have a walker!  Claire took her first steps exactly one week before her 1st birthday on the outside patio. We were all jumping around, excited for her! Wow, walking before she turns 1, we couldn't believe it. We were so excited that she'd be walking for her birthday party and could show off her new moves ... and then she stopped walking.

 I guess falling down was too much, or she realized she liked crawling, or she didn't want to be anyone's trained monkey because she wouldn't take anymore steps for us after that. Se would especially not walk for anyone on her birthday. Then the festivities died down, grandparents went back to Nashville, everything returned to normal and ... she was back at it.

One week after her birthday, she was back walking, attempting small steps which quickly turned into steadier steps. And now (3 weeks after her 1st birthday) we have a full blown walking toddler who picks herself up from sitting to standing to walking, prefers walking over crawling, and gets around the house on her little doughy baby feet with her one arm up in the air for balance (she looks ready for us to give her a platter of food to serve). She is so little and cute teetering around the house. She almost looks too little to be walking.

Milestone: walking! 12 months

June 8: Photo shoot outside

June 8th ... A month ago ... Matt was blowing the leaves from the gutters and the day was beautiful, so I took advantage of the sunshine to get some cute photos of the kids. Well, mostly Claire cause Wesley was too busy watching Matt - "He's on the roof!"

Sunday morning bike ride

We are very lucky to have the Illinois Prairie Path so close (1/4 mile) from our house. I can't tell you how my times I have "strollered" down the dusty path. 

Or like this morning, we put both kids in the Burley for the first time. 

Now that Claire is a year old (and walking!) she can sit in the Burley for a nice trip down the prairie path.

Blueberry Galette

I've never made a galette before. I've tried -- using store bought puff pastry -- and the results were ..."eh." But I never closed the door on the galette and its unassuming simplicity.

So when we got 2 pints of blueberries from our CSA's fruit share, I knew they were destined to be encased in dough and baked to perfection (with butter & sugar of course, the way Mother Nature intended).

My new love interest, Pinterest, hooked me up with a recipe from Baking with Julia -- a book I own and deem too difficult to make anything from it turning my kitchen into a powder puff of flour, but nevertheless written by Dorie Greenspan so this counts as part of my Dorie baking marathon even though it didn't come out of the cookbook Baking ... Whew. That was a mouthful.

Deciding against puff pastry, the recipe for the galette dough was simple, combining ingredients in a food processor and chilling the dough. The dough rolled out easy, folded over easy, and took little precious counter space other than the cutting board.

Now I have 2 perfect little blueberry galettes to bring to my moms group family picnic today.

Recipe here.  (A lot of blogs participate in Tuesday with Dorie ... a group I'd love to be part of but can't be so disciplined at the moment).

Claire's Garden Party

For Claire's 1st birthday, I wanted to do a garden party theme.

I had some great inspiration from party planners on Pinterest and this is what I came up with because I'm not as a) organized b) crafty c) time managed and d) over the top as some people. I still think it came out pretty cute!

We had vases full of flowers everywhere, which my mom expertly arranged.

This idea I stole from Pinterest which is using garden pots for silverware. These came from Home Depot. And of course, the plates and napkins had flowers on them (Target).

I also stole the idea of a Champagne bar from Pinterest -- here's the bar set with raspberries, orange juice, peach nectar, and lemonade. All 3 bottles were finished!

I made vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and pink sprinkles for the kids (and adults).

For Claire's cake, I opted for 5 small 5" cakes with different fillings (lemon, chocolate raspberry, chocolate caramel, vanilla & chocolate, and strawberry) all decorated with flowers -- from Whole Foods. They did a fantastic decorating job!

I love the sunflowers with Oreo centers and the basket weave for the lemon cake. And Claire's cute little smash cupcake.

The birthday girl!

And a party isn't a party without a piñata! I found one at Target in the shape of a butterfly. The kids had a blast hitting it (with a nerf baseball that we had to upgrade to something more potent!)

One Years Old!

My little Claire turned 1 years old today!

I can still remember her birth and how happy I felt when they laid her on my chest. She was beautiful and I kept on saying, "My baby! My baby!" How this year has flown and how happy we have all been with her in our lives.

Taking her home from the hospital ... so tiny

And on her 1st birthday ... my big girl!

 

11 months old ... very late!

Claire turned 11 months old under the sunny skies of Florida. The only thing missing here is a baby piña colada in her hand!

A lot has happened since she turned 10 months:

• She started crawling a few days after turning 10 months and is also very steady on her feet. She can stay standing for about 2 seconds before sitting down. She is also cruising around furniture and tries to "stand up" from a seated position.

• She started getting her teeth! Her 2 front teeth are almost completely in, as well as 1 bottom tooth. And she's eating table food more than puréed food I make for her.

• She's still nursing about 2-3x a day and 1x a night -- she still wakes at night a least once.  And now, she's teething so she's up a few times ... Sleep deprivation looks terrible on me (and 11 months of sleep deprivation is not pretty.)

• She started bathing with Wesley in the big tub. They are really cute playing together with all their bath toys.

• She wants to play with her big brother all the time, preferring his toys over her own (typical) which makes my day full of "play together!" and "stop hitting!" Claire is learning to hold her own (the joys of being #2). She is definitely feistier than Wesley which I expect will make my life only that much more exciting as she gets older.

I can't believe that I am getting ready for her 1st birthday party! This has been quite a fun year!